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Category: Home Brewing Equipment (Page 5 of 8)

Reviews and information on home brewing equipment.

MoreBeer.com 14 Gallon Conical Fermentor

March 30, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter

 

When I come across a great deal I like to pass on the information.  For today only MoreBeer.com is offering one of their high quality 14 gallon Stainless Steel fermentors at a serious discount.  Typically they run for $995, but today, while supplies last, you can pick one up for only $835.00

 

Click Here for this Special Offer on a 14-Gallon Stainless Steel Conical Fermentor

 

The MoreBeer.com Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter features:

– 304 Stainless Steel
– 1.5 inch butterfly valve
– Threadless racking arm with position indicator
– Professional sanitary sample and transfer valve
– Removable cone for easy cleaning
– Domed lid with 3 inch clover fitting at the top
– Sturdy lid clamp allowing for 5 PSI of pressure (with addition of CO2 Adapter pack)
– Ability to add options such as leg extensions, wheels and blow off

 

Brew Stands and Home Brewing Racks

August 20, 2014 / / 3 Comments
Brew Stands and Homebrewing Racks

Brew Stands and Homebrewing Racks

I recently added a new page to the West Coast Brewer main site for brew stands, homebrewing racks, home breweries, beer brewing stands and home brew racks!  Whatever name you want to call them by, they can be found here:

Home Brewing Stands

 

My goal is to list all of the turnkey \ pre-built homebrew racks that I can find available for sale online there, so if you know of any that I have not listed, please feel free to shoot me an email about it so that I can get them added.

 

The page features the whole range of home brewing stands from entry level to digital stainless steel brew racks and photos of each stand.  There are several single tier models as well as multi tier homebrew stands to chose from.  The prices range from about $500 for a bare homebrew stand to over $6000 for a complete home brewing rack with kettles, pumps and digital temperature controllers.

 

First home brewing batch with the new RIMS controller.

July 28, 2014 / / 0 Comments
Brew beer at home!

Home Brewing Beer

I brewed a batch of Karamel Citra Session IPA over the weekend to test out the new RIMS system that I had built for my home brewery. Sometimes you can test as much as you want, but until you go live with an actually batch of beer, you just never know what is going to happen.  Thankfully everything with this batch seemed to work just about perfectly.

 

There are a couple of things that I would like to make note of for anyone else who is planning on building their own RIMS setup using a similar configuration as mine.  Initially the march pump did not seem to want to pass the wort through the RIMS heating chamber. To correct the issue I bypassed the heating chamber and recirculated directly back into the mash tun for a couple of minutes until the work began to clear a bit.  After that it passed through the heating chamber with out any issues.  Also, as a safety measure I wired my Ranco temperature controller so that the only way that it can be on is if the mash tun pump is active.  I would recommend that you do the same in order to help reduce the chances that the heating element engages with out any fluid in the heating chamber.  You will also want to check on your flow rate periodically to make sure that the march pump is transferring fluid at the expected rate.

 

RIMS – Recirculating Infusion Mash System

July 25, 2014 / / 1 Comment

 

For those of you who are not familiar with RIMS, it stands for Recirculating Infusion Mash System. Basically it is a method for regulating the temperature of your mash tun during the mashing process when the grain starches are converted to sugars.  The mash temperature is critical when brewing a beer and a swing of just a few degrees can have a dramatic impact on your finished beer.  For instance, a mash temperature of 146F to 150F will create very simple sugars that are easy for yeast strains to convert into alcohol, providing you with a beer that has a dry finish. While a mash temperature of 154F to 158F will create a good deal of complex sugars that the yeast can not digest which makes for a very full bodied beer that will be lower in alcohol.

 

If you conduct your mash in metal kettles such as the stainless steel Blichmann 20 gallon kettles that I use, you will find that your kettles will shed a good deal of heat during the mash process.  In order to maintain a proper mash conversion you will need to either heat the kettle or the fluid inside of it. The problem with adding direct heat to your mash tun kettle is that you risk scorching your grain bed or wort and may also have a large temperature variance at the bottle of the mash tun and the top of it.  If you are going to apply direct heat, it is important that you are recirculating your wort with a pump to help minimize those issues.  Another potential problem with direct heat is that it can be difficult to monitor and control with out the use of a temperature controller and means for regulating the heat source; if you are not careful your temperature can swing by 5 degrees very quickly.

 

For the reasons I stated above, I recently started work on a RIMS (Recirculating Infusion Mash System) to help me properly maintain my mash temperature.  I am still conducting tests with it but plan on brewing my first test batch of beer this weekend and am optimistic that it will work out well and help me brew the best beer possible.  The system is rather simple.  I am constantly recirculating the wort in my mash tun via a march pump.  The wort flows into a stainless steel chamber where I have an electric stainless steel heating element at the point of entry.  At the opposite end of the chamber is a thermowell that is connected to a Ranco digital temperature controller.  If the Ranco temperature controller detects that the temperature of the wort has fallen below my target temperature, then it activates the low watt electric heating element until the target temperature is once again reached and then shuts the element off.  The wort flows out of the chamber and back into my mash tun via my MoreBeer Ultimate Sparge Arm.  Instead of obsessing over my mash temp and constantly fiddling with my burner and pumps, I can kick back, toss the football around with a friend and enjoy a cold beer until my timer goes off!  It should make for a more controlled mash and less stressful brew day if all goes well. Once the design is fully tested I will submit another blog entry with more details on how to build one of your own.  In the meantime, you can find Ranch temperature controllers and the MoreBeer Ultimate Sparge Arm here.

 

Ultimate Sparge Arm and Digital Temperature Controllers

 

RIMS, Mash Temperature Controller

RIMS, Mash Temperature Controller

Stainless Steel Convoluted Counterflow Wort Chiller

July 15, 2014 / / 5 Comments
Stainless Steel Convoluted Counterflow Wort Chiller

Stainless Steel Counterflow Wort Chiller

 

For those of you who are trying to go all stainless steel with your home brewery, a stainless steel convoluted counterflow chiller is one of those items that has been almost impossible to find.  You can breathe a little easier as that is no longer the case.  For right around $200, you can pick a stainless steel counterflow chiller up here:

 

Click Here for Stainless Steel Convoluted Counterflow Chillers

 

You can also select add on options for your stainless convoluted counterflow chiller including stainless steel quick disconnects and ball valves!

 

Stainless Steel Convoluted Counterflow Wort Chiller for Home Brewing

Stainless Steel Convoluted Counterflow Wort Chiller for Home Brewing

Boosting your home beer brewing burners efficiency!

July 8, 2014 / / 2 Comments
How to improve your burner efficiency

How to increase your propane burner efficiency

 

About a year ago I upgraded from my previous low output propane burners to these larger 210,000 BTU Banjo Burners.  These new burners were literally about 4 times larger, heavier and produced about 4 times the BTU’s as my previous propane home brewing burners and I had high expectations of them.  When it finally came time to test them out on a batch of beer I was left somewhat disappointed.  Did they heat my kettles more quickly?  Yes they did.  Were they terribly inefficient and double by propane expenses?  Yes, they did that too.

 

I was please with how much time they were saving, but was very let down by how much propane I was blowing through.  In the past I was able to get about 4, 10 gallon batches from each propane tank.  With these new banjo burners I was getting less than 2.  Based on what I could tell from observation, much of the heat was being reflected off of the bottom of the kettles and pushed out of the sides burner housing.  My plan was to create 2 metal baffles to help better direct the heat where I wanted it to go.  I bolted the first baffle around the internal burner housing about 1 1/2 inches bellow where the kettle sits.  I welded the second baffle near the outside of the burner housing, just slightly larger then the approximate diameter of my kettles.  The top of the second baffle was approximately 1/2 inch beneath the kettle.  I left a small area of space for me to pass through my igniter.

 

Improving Banjo Burner Efficiency

Improving Banjo Burner Fuel Efficiency

 

After testing these baffles I was very pleased with the efficiency gains to my home brewing banjo burners.  I was back to getting about 3 1/2, 10 gallon batches per propane tank and was heating my kettles about twice as fast as I was with my previous burners.  If anyone else has been experiencing similar issues with their propane burner efficiency, hopefully this will help you out.

 

How to wire a Ranco digital temperature controller – 120v

July 1, 2014 / / 4 Comments
How to Wire a Ranco Digital Temperature Controller

How to Wire a Ranco Digital Temperature Controller

 

Ranco Digital Temperature Controllers and Accessories Available Here

 

Recently I decided that I would create a temperature controlled RIMS systems for my home brewery. I picked up a Ranco Digital Temperature Controller (model # ETC-111000-000) to manage the temperature regulation.  I have not quite completed the entire Recirculating Infusion Mash System, but I just wrapped up the Ranco wiring and thought that I would share what I learned in case it will help out anyone else.

 

The RIMS heating element that I am using is a stainless steel 120v heating bar, so I have configured the Ranco for 120, but the Ranco thermostat is also capable of handling 240v; it just requires a slight wiring modification. I would like to point out that I am not a professional electrician. Electricity can be extremely dangerous to work with and may result in death. You should always consult with a professional electrician when attempting a project such as this.  Manufacturer hardware designs sometimes change and you should refer to your instructions prior to beginning. Here is a wiring diagram that I used for my Ranco Temperature Controller.

 

Ranco Digital Temperature Controller Wiring Diagram

Ranco Digital Temperature Controller Wiring Diagram

 

I cut apart a heavy gauge extension cord to use for my wall power connection and for the wiring I used to connect to my output plug.  Inside the extension cord is a ground wire, common wire and hot wire.  In the diagram above I use the green wire to represent ground, the white wire to represent common and the dark red wire to represent hot.  Please be aware that different cables use different colored wire to represent different things, these colors are just meant to be an example.  I ran the grounding cable from my extension cord directly to my output plug ground connection and also grounded it to the metal case that I am using to house my Ranco temperature controller, plug and switches.  I spliced the white common cable from the extension cord and connected it to the “COM” port on my Ranco and ran an extension wire to the common connection point on my output plug. Since the RIMS heating element that I am using is 120v, I ran the hot wire from my extension cord to the Ranco “120” port.  I then connected a small length of heavy gauge wire from the “120” port on the Ranco to the “C” port on the Ranco Temperature Controller.  Lastly, I ran a segment of red wire from the Ranco “NO” port to the hot wire connection on my output plug. I reviewed my work to make sure that all of the wires were connected properly and there was no bare wire exposed.  I then connected the device to a GFCI outlet and tested the device with a voltage meter to make sure that everything was working as intended.  The Ranco is great because you can select whether you want the power to activate when the temperature drops below a certain point or rises above a certain point which means that it can be used for either a RIMS type device or to control the fermentation temperature in a freezer or refrigerator without having to rewire the device or modify the hardware.

 

Ranco Digital Thermostat

Ranco 120v Thermostat

 

If you are not comfortable doing electrical work or if you would prefer to avoid the hassle, you can purchase a wired Ranco Digital Temperature controller.  You can find several different options available here at a great price via the link below.  They also have spare temperature probes and mounting brackets for the Ranco available if needed.

Ranco Digital Temperature Controllers

 

Good luck with your project and happy brewing!

 

Butterfly Knife Bottle Opener!

June 3, 2014 / / 1 Comment
Butterfly Beer Bottle Opener

Butterfly Bottle Opener

 

 

 

Every once in a while I come across something a little cool \ crazy that I just need to blog about. This is one of those times.

 

On a recent beer excursion in Northern California, after having a few to several beers, I wandered upon this butterfly knife beer bottle opener!  I always appreciate ideas and designs that are a little outside of the box and this certainly fit the bill.  It works like a functional butterfly knife, but instead of stabbing one of your friends, you can open their beer for them!

 

If you are interest in purchasing a butterfly bottle opener, you can pick one up here for about $15.

Butterfly Knife Beer Bottle Opener

All Grain Home Brewing

May 8, 2014 / / 1 Comment
All Grain Home Brewing

All Grain Home Brewing and Beer Making

 

I figured that I would give a simple break down on all grain home brewing for those of you who have been doing extract brewing for a while and are considering making the change but want some basic information on what you are in for before you do.

 

So what is the difference between extract brewing and all grain brewing?   With extract brewing, the home brewer bypasses the mashing process and instead uses either concentrated dried malt extract (DME) or liquid malt extract (LME) to brew his or her beer. This greatly lowers the complexity of the home brewing process since the brewer does not need to worry about water pH levels, mash conversion temperatures, water profile composition, sparging, lautering or things like tannin extraction problems.  Also, the extract home brewing takes far less time and equipment than all grain home brewing.  With all grain brewing, you do not utilize any forms of malt extracts and instead convert all of the sugars yourself from grain starches and adjuncts.  With all grain home brewing it is important to check your gravity readings throughout the brewing process to make sure that you are not extracting too much or two little sugar.  You are also in charge of the type of sugars that are created during the mashing process.  If your mash temperature is a few degrees to high your beer may come out very sweet, if it is a few degrees to low you may end up with a very dry beer.  Mastering all grain brewing is all about understanding the process, tailoring the process to the style of beer you are brewing and being as exact as possible.

 

So what equipment will you need to do all grain home brewing that you do not need for extract brewing?  Unless you are going to go the brew in a bag route, you are probably going to want 3 kettles and or combinations of 3 kettles \ coolers.  One will be your Hot Liquor Tank (HLT) which will allow you to quickly modify the temperature of your mash during the different steps of the starch conversion process.  The second is your Mash Tun which is where you will place your grains and convert the starches to sugars.  A mash tun typically uses a false bottom which allows the wort to pass through it during the lautering and mash out process but restricts the grain husks from being transferred to the boil kettle.  If you will be conducting a fly sparging process, which many home brewers do in order to boost your efficiency of extracting the sugars from your grains, you will also need to purchase a sparge arm.  Lastly you will need a boil kettle that has a sufficient volume for the quantity of wort that you will be boiling.  Aside from that, the equipment is very similar to what you would use during the extract home brewing process.

 

If you are looking for a ready-made all grain home brewing stand, brewing sculpture or home brewery; there are several options available here that range from cooler based setups to stainless steel home brewing racks!

Home Brewing Stands, Brewing Racks, Brew Sculptures and All Grain Starter Kits

Growlers for your home brew!

April 22, 2014 / / 0 Comments
Growlers

Growlers for your home brewed beer.

 

So you brewed an incredible pale ale and now it is time to share it with some friends.  If you are anything like me you are too lazy to clean and sanitize 40 bottles each time you brew a new batch of beer so you keg; but a keg is a pain to transport, what to do, what to do.  The answer is a growler!  Most beer growlers hold half a US gallon or 64 ounces, some are a bit larger and there are also 32 oz half growlers.

 

Typically what I do is if I go to a brewery that I really like I will pick up a growler of their beer and just re-use those growlers for my home brew as well.  That way if I am heading to an event, going on a camping trip or a buddy wants some beer to bring home I have several available.  I recently also purchased a couple of really nice stainless steel growlers.  I like them because they are nearly indestructible, has a cap that you never need to replace and is also far more compact then a typical growler yet still holds 64 ounces.  It also looks like a miniature keg which I also like.

 

Stainless Steel Mini Keg Home Brew Growler

Mini Keg Growler

 You can find these stainless steel mini keg growlers for purchase here

 

Stainless Steel Fermentors for Home Brewing

April 11, 2014 / / 8 Comments
Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter

Stainless Steel Fermentor

 

I have good news for my fellow home brewers.  If you have always wanted a stainless steel fermentor for your home brewing setup but have been scared away from making the purchase by either the cost or the size than this might be the fermentor for you.

 

Last month MoreBeer.com released these new 7 gallon stainless steel conical fermentors and I picked up 2 of them.  They currently retail for $225.  There are several things that I like about these stainless steel fermentation buckets.  First off is that they are small enough where the still fit in the chest freezer that I use as a fermentation chamber.  Secondly, they have strong handles on the side that permit you to carry and move them around when they are full.  Something that would be far more tricky with a larger 14 gallon conical stainless steel fermentor.  Another thing that is great is that they have volume markers engraved into the side of the fermentor which is awesome!

 

Stainless Steel Fermenter

Stainless Steel Fermenter

Perhaps the best thing about this stainless steel fermentor is that it wont crack, chip, break or possibly shatter if you drop it and embed large shards of glass into your leg!  In most cases this will also make the need for a racking cane obsolete.  It is also larger than standard carboys! With its plus sized 6.95 gallon capacity you wont have to worry much about head space during high krausen on a 5 gallon batch. Lastly what I like about it is that it is far easier to scrub than a carboy since the large lid comes off so that you have full access to the inside of the fermentor.  Honestly about the only thing about a carboy that I miss is being able to watch the fermentation take place.  It would also have been nice to have another valve on the very bottom so that you could remove trub or harvest yeast from the fermentor.  Those two points aside, if you are looking to purchase a reasonably priced, high quality stainless steel fermentor or stainless steel brew bucket as they call this, than this is a great choice.

 

You can purchase this stainless steel fermentor here:

Stainless Steel Fermenter

 

 

 

How to build a home brewery brewing stand!

April 10, 2014 / / 7 Comments
How to build a Home Brewery \ Beer Brewing Stand \ Brewing Rack \ Single Tier Brewing Sculpture

How to build a Home Brewery \ Beer Brewing Stand \ Brewing Rack \ Single Tier Brewing Sculpture

 

I can not speak for everyone, but for me, once I had made the change from extract to all grain home brewing I began having visions of what I wanted my home brewery to look like.  In a way, a big part of the allure of home beer brewing for me was making the best beer possible.  For me that included building my own home brewing rack, doing my best to perfect the process and being as efficient as possible.  I am not going to lie, there were a few times along the way that I questioned what the hell I was thinking and why I did not just buy a home brewing stand, but now that all is said and done I am a bit proud of what I was able to accomplish with my own hands.  In hopes of helping some of my fellow home brewers out I am going to supply some general information on how I put mine together.  If you need any specifics on something I do not list here, please feel free to drop me a line with what details you are looking for.

 

Home Beer Brewery

Home Beer Brewery

 

 

 

The dimensions of my brewery are 61″ Wide, 20.5″ Deep and 20.5″ tall excluding the wheels. The following is a list of parts that I used to create my home brewing sculpture, but many of the items such as the kettles, sparge arm and pumps can be traded out for other items of your preference. I am assuming that you have some basic welding experience (it is not that hard) and the required tools including a welder, cut saw, drill and grinder.

 

For the frame of my single tier home brewing stand I used 2″ x 2″ steel fence post that I cut into the appropriate sizes.  I made two large 61″ x 20.5″ rectangles for the top and the bottom, with a supporting vertical bar on each corner of the brewing stand.  In between each of the 3 burners, I placed 2 bars for spacing and support.  Even with all 3 kettles full of liquid, the beer rack is incredibly stable.  Here is a link to the fence post available at home depot:

Fence post for the brewing rack

 

The burners are really an item of personal preference.  I started with 54,000 BTU burners, but then later upgraded to a 210,000 BTU Bayou Cooker Burners.  The smaller burners were more efficient as far as propane usage goes, but the larger bayou cooker burners certainly get the job done much quicker.  I welded brackets onto the bottom of the top level of my home brewing stand to hold the burners in place.  Initially I had a flexible line with a regulator running from each burner to a master regulator that was hooked up to the propane tank, but then later ran pipe with separate valves for each burner. The bayou cooker banjo burners are available here:

Banjo Burner – 210,000 BTU Bayou Cooker Home Brewing Burner Stand

 

For the home brewing kettles I opted for the Blichmann 20 gallon kettles.  They include a site gauge so you can easily see the volume in your kettle, a 3 piece stainless steel ball valve and adjustable thermometer.  These stainless steel brewing kettles are one of the best buys that I have ever made and have no regrets about them.  They have a variety of options including a false bottom for your mash tun, hop blocker for your boil kettle, and sparge arm.  I opted for the false bottom and hop blocker and have been very happy with them.  I do mostly 10 gallon batches, but could go as high as 15 gallons with these 20 gallon kettles.  You will want to buy kettles that are appropriate for the batch size that you intend to brew.  Blichmann currently offers 10 gallon, 15 gallon, 20 gallon, 30 gallon and 55 gallon kettles.  You can find the kettles and optional items available here:

Stainless Steel Home Brewing Kettles

 

You will need to get 2 high temperature food grade pumps for your single tier home brewing rack.  I placed my pumps in between the hot liquor tank \ mash tun and the other between the mash tun and boil kettle.  With two pumps you will be able to conduct your sparge while also transferring wort from your mash tun to your boil kettle.  I use high temperature rated march pumps with stainless steel quick disconnects.  The pumps and disconnects can be found here:

Home Brewing Pumps and Quick Connects

 

As far as sparge arms go I have tried several.  The best one that I have ever come across is the morebeer ultimate sparge arm.  It is made of stainless steel, has a ball valve built into it to easily control the flow rate and can be used to recirculate or lauter your wort in addition to sparging.  The ultimate sparge arm can be purchased here:

Ultimate Home Brewing Sparge Arm

 

Lastly for my wort chiller I use a convoluted counter flow chiller.  Much like the sparge arm, I have tried just about every chiller from immersion chillers to plate chillers and I have found the convoluted counter flow chiller to be the best.  What I like most about it is that it is just about impossible to clog, it is compact, it cools wort incredibly quickly and it is easy to clean and sanitize.  These convoluted counter flow chillers are also sometimes referred to as chillzillas.  They can be found here:

Home Brewing Convoluted Counterflow Chillers

 

Those are the basics on my home brewing stand \ single tier brewing sculpture.  If you have any specific questions or comments, please leave a comment or shoot me an email and I will do my best to assist you.  Best of luck to you on building your own all grain home beer brewing stand.  If it seems like a little more work then you are up for, there are also some really fantastic pre-manufactured stainless steel home brewing racks and brewing sculptures available here:

Stainless Steel Home Brewing Stands and Brewing Sculptures

 

Brewing Sculpture

Stainless Steel Home Brewery

 

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